27 March 2012

Incompetent but well rewarded

Coutts, the bank famed for handling the finances of the Queen and around half the England football team, was fined £8.75m for "serious, systemic" money-laundering failures yesterday.The Financial Services Authority said the bank, owned by the state-backed Royal Bank of Scotland, was lax in checking whether funds paid in by foreign politicians came from legitimate sources.The fine is Coutts' second dressing down by the City watchdog in a matter of months. In November, it was fined £6.3m for mis-selling savings products linked to the collapsed US insurer AIG. In that instance it also paid compensation to clients.

It would have been nice if heads had rolled. But instead it is the poor bloody shareholders that will bear the cost. And in this instance the vast majority of shareholders are the taxpayers. Meanwhile the fatcat bankers continue to watch the bonuses roll in.